拓荒者很早就開始向西部前進了。在1843年，一個叫做彼得‧伯內特 (Peter Burnett) 來自密蘇里州的律師決定加入前往奧勒岡領土探險的特遣隊，他希望他能夠在那裡賺到足夠的錢來償還自己留在東岸的負債。大概40年後，伯內特回憶著說：「我看到一個大型的美國人社群在那裡成長，幾年之內，包括太平洋沿岸等區域區域已經相當繁榮了。我覺得自己也有投入到那個區域打拚的熱忱與希望。」


Have you ever been to the Pacific Northwest? On August 14, 1848, Congress created the Oregon Territory, an area that includes what is today Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and western Montana. The Oregon Territory quickly became a popular place for various groups of immigrants and settlers.

Settlers had been traveling west for years. In 1843, one Missouri lawyer named Peter Burnett decided to join an expedition for the Oregon Territory in the hopes that he would be able to make enough money to repay his debts back east. Some 40 years later, Burnett recalled, "I saw that a great American community would grow up, in the space of a few years, upon the shores of the distant Pacific; and I felt an ardent desire to aid in this most important enterprise."

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